


Just one difference changes the world

by Proudnerdqueen



Series: Rachel Grimes [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/M, Female Rick Grimes, Genderbending, always female rick grimes, twd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22581709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Proudnerdqueen/pseuds/Proudnerdqueen
Summary: So, this is my idea of what it would look like if Rick Grimes was actually Rachel Grimes. How many things would change if he was a she? What experiences would Rachel have gone through, that Rick didn't? How would this change the way she reacts and responds?
Relationships: Daryl Dixon/Female Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes, Female Rick Grimes/Shane Walsh, Rick Grimes/Shane Walsh
Series: Rachel Grimes [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1624909
Comments: 13
Kudos: 49





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my idea of what it would look like if Rick Grimes was actually Rachel Grimes. How many things would change if he was a she? What experiences would Rachel have gone through, that Rick didn't? How would this change the way she reacts and responds?

Now, Rachel Grimes didn’t think she would have survived up to this point. Honestly, she kind of thought that everything up till now was a bad dream. What with waking up inside a hospital with no one around except for the walking dead, it was like something from a bad horror film Shane made her watch back in the day. But after her run in with Morgan and Duane, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all just a bad dream. But hadn’t she heard of this before? When someone goes through a traumatic or grueling experience, they dissociate themselves from reality, like there’s a fog between them and what is happening around them? Or maybe Rachel was just spouting nonsense to herself, which was another very real possibility. After all, it was the end of the world, right?

Then she ended up in the tank, her bag of guns and ammo lost under the horde of walkers that had descended upon her poor horse. She was sure she was going to die, if this wasn’t a dream. But then, if you die in your dream, don’t you supposedly die in real life also? Regardless, she was either dead and in hell, or dying and heading to an unknown destination after her sudden and most likely painful death.

After the kid, Glenn, had helped her from the tank, and then the girl named Andrea had shoved a gun in her face, Rachel wasn’t too pleased with how things were turning out. That’s when they heard the gunshots from the rooftop. She had an unpleasant encounter with a racist and sexist redneck, but thankfully she was able to get a few hits in before she disarmed him and then cuffed him to a pipe. And seriously, what kind of nickname is ‘Officer Friendly’ anyways?

But after Rachel came up with the plan to disguise their scent by covering themselves with walker guts, she and Glenn had a half formed plan on how to distract the walkers, and get the others safely back to their camp. Thankfully, the half assed plan went off with only minimal problems. And Glenn was able to lead the walkers away with a sports car whose alarm we had set off, leaving Rachel with a clear shot to pick up the others.  
However, as they were making their way out of the city, that was when she noticed they were one person short. She just knew that was going to come around and bite them in the ass at the end of the day. 

But she was sure she was dreaming when they got to the campsite. Because amidst the other assorted members of the camp, she saw her boy. She called out his name, hoping she wasn’t hallucinating or imagining things. His head whipped around when she called his name though, and then he was running towards her. As soon as his small body knocked her on the ground, Rachel knew this wasn’t a dream. It couldn't be, none of her dreams were ever good, they always ended poorly. But this, her boy in her arms, the both of them crying and hugging each other, it was real. She knew it down to her bones.

And then someone had joined their duo, making them a trio of crying and hugging bodies. She looked up, not knowing who it was at first. But then, it was Shane. Her best friend, her brother, had kept her son alive, so she could find her way back to them. 

And at that moment, it didn’t matter that the world had ended.

It didn’t matter that the dead were walking the earth, trying to devour the living.

All that mattered was that her small, fractured family was whole again.


	2. Back at the camp

That night, Rachel sat on a log in front of the fire with Carl sitting practically on top of her, and Shane was sitting next to them - she noticed that he was always within arms reach, ever since the three of them were reunited. As she was sitting amongst the camp and telling them her story, she was softly stroking Carl’s hair. She still couldn’t believe that he was alive. That all three of them were even alive - let alone alive and together - was nothing short of a miracle. 

As she was halfway through explaining the events that had brought her there, Carl interrupted her quietly, “Shane said you were dead.” Rachel paused in her narrative, and Shane quickly spoke up in response.  
“I did try to get you out of the hospital, and I even got as far as your room, but then your monitors started flashing and beeping before shutting down,” he paused to rub the back of his head, which Rachel knew was a nervous tick of his, “a - and i tried to find a pulse, but I couldn’t find one. And then the dead started coming, and so I barricaded you in there and went after Carl.”   
Shane looked at Rachel with wide eyes, as if begging her to forgive him for leaving her. 

She reached out and took his hand, simply staring at him for a moment with her head tilted to the side.  
“It’s ok Shane, I know you did everything you could, and you never would have left me if you had any other choice.” As she was retracting her hand, Shane squeezed it once, before he let her go. “The important thing is that you saved Carl, you both survived, and we’re back together now.”   
As Rachel turned to look back into the fire, she wrapped both arms around Carl. “Besides, I never gave up hope of finding you guys, I knew you were alive.”   
Carl shifted around to look at his mom, “How did you know though?” She gave him a light squeeze before looking back at Shane once more, “The photos were all gone. I knew Carl wouldn’t have left without them. Besides...while there’s breath, there’s hope.” She said softly, so quietly no one but Shane and Carl could have heard her. Shane simply looked at her with a look in his eyes that she - for once - couldn’t interpret. 

The peaceful moment only lasted until a man on the outskirts of the camp threw a long onto his fire. As Rachel observed how Shane handled the situation - and she could understand his reasoning - but the way he responded seemed slightly off. But then he seemed back to his usual self when talking to the other man’s family. Rachel took note of the whole thing, and decided that she would keep a close eye on everything just in case things were to escalate. 

As Shane sat down next to her and Carl, this time he sat a little closer, just enough that she had to fight the urge to edge away. But this was Shane, not a stranger, and she truly believed he wouldn’t ever hurt her. After the group seemed to relax after those tense moments just minutes ago, the older man in the group - who she believed was named Dale - spoke up.   
“Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won’t be too happy to hear his brother was left behind.”   
The way that the man shifted in his seat, eyes searching the group, Rachel realized that the man was...not scared - but maybe uneasy - at the mention of who must be the racist redneck’s brother. 

As those who had been on the run squabble about who should be the one to let the other Dixon know, and if they should even lie about the event that had happened, T-Dog suddenly spoke up louder than the others. “I stopped long enough to chain that door. The staircase is narrow, and only maybe a half a dozen geeks could squeeze through there at a time. It’s not enough to break through, not with that chain and the padlock. But my point is, Dixon is alive and he’s still up there, handcuffed on the roof. And that’s on us.” 

After that speech, the group lingered a little longer around the fire before dispersing to their own spots to settle down for bed. Rachel was quiet as Shane and Carl led her to their tent. The boys had given her privacy to change into something a little more comfortable, before they all settled in for the night. Rachel could tell by the sound of his breathing when Carl fell asleep. It comforted her, the knowledge that even with the dead walking around, her son still could sleep peacefully - she just hoped it would last.


	3. First Meetings

Rachel awoke early that morning with a start. She took a moment to assess her surroundings, and then the memories came. The trip in the city, her reunion with Carl and Shane. Immense relief filled her when she realised that she hadn’t imagined it all, that she was a foot away from her son, and he was alive and safe. She knew that Shane was sleeping next to her, he had gotten uncomfortably close sometime during the night, and he had his arm slung over her possessively. 

Rachel slipped out from under his grasp slowly, so as not to wake him up and make things awkward between them. Grabbing her boots and her hat, she pressed a soft kiss to Carl’s forehead before quietly exiting the tent and stepping out into the camp.  
Seeing as how she was the only one up except for whoever was on watch, she slipped through the camp, and headed down into the quarry so she could freshen up.

She had grabbed the gun she had from the tank, as there were still three rounds left, and it was better than nothing. Rachel might have been new to this whole end of the world thing, but she was a quick study and knew better than to be caught off guard without a weapon.   
So with her palm on the butt of her gun, she observed the water and the surrounding area.  
Not noticing anything that would be cause for concern, she slipped out of her hooded sweatshirt first, which left her in her jeans and a tank top. She knelt down to untie her boot laces, and then grimaced as she slipped the boots and her socks off. All the blisters on her feet were going to hurt once she stepped into the water. Next came the tank top, which left her just in shorts and a sports bra. That was when she sensed eyes on her, and as she knelt to put her tank top on her pile of clothes, she swiftly grabbed the gun, and smoothly turned around and settled into a stable stance with the weapon pointed at...a redneck with a crossbow, which he raised up and pointed it directly at her. His face was blank as a slate, but in his eyes she could see some confusion.

Daryl had grunted in surprise when she swiftly turned around. Never before had anyone sensed him when he didn’t want to be noticed, this is the first time someone had caught him off guard instead of it being the other way around. He was even a bit surprised by her speed and the way that she had pulled a gun out of seemingly nowhere. 

They were in a standoff, neither one willing to be the first to speak, and neither one willing to be the first to lower their weapon.


	5. Authors note

So, I’ve been having a little bit of writers block lately, and I honestly have no idea how to get this next chapter written in an orderly fashion. So I wanted to ask you guys something...do you want me to keep working on this as an entire story, or would you rather have one shots from episodes in their series? If we went that route, I would take requests for whichever episodes you want to see Rachel in. Otherwise, I’ll be trying my best to crank out some more chapters in this fic for you guys! Any inspiration or helpful comments would be a blessing! Let me know your thoughts.


End file.
